Mr Davis says, “no cover up has occurred and
in the case of one of Mr Peters’ claim that recent damage
to the Stena Allegra propeller occurred because the ferry
hit a wharf in Picton is quite simply, wrong”.

Mr Davis
says safety is Interislander’s top priority and the
organisation encourages a culture of full incident reporting
as a matter of practice to maintain the organisation’s
high safety record.

Mr Peters’ two other claims of a
cover up also cannot be supported. It is also important to
remember that reporting in itself doesn’t necessarily mean
a safety incident has occurred.

“Investigations need to
be undertaken to prove or disprove an allegation. The
incidents Mr Peters’ alleges have been subject to normal
investigation protocols and a full safety investigation has
begun, including the opportunity for all parties to share
incident details to establish if further action is
required.

“Our internal investigation team is examining
these alleged incidents, including taking steps to ensure
our staff are treated appropriately through the
investigation process.”

Mr Davis said KwiRail also
report to Maritime New Zealand as a matter of
course.

“As with every investigation, staff allegedly
involved were stood down and as part of our standard
procedures undertook drug and alcohol testing.”

Mr Davis
said near miss incidents reports needed to be put into
context. Reported incidents between January 2011 to December
2013 involving all Cook Strait shipping operators were as
follows:

• Maritime New Zealand received 68 incidents of
all types in that period for all ferry companies operating
in the Cook Strait.

• Of these, 15 were reported as near
miss, or close quarters incidents, for all ferry
companies.

• Interislander was involved in 36 reported
incidents, and 10 near misses.

• Interislander conducted
60% of all ferry crossings and has less than 50% of reported
incidents.

“The wider context is that in that time
Interislander sailed approximately 4600 of the annual 7200
crossings that take place across Cook Strait by all ferry
companies. On that basis Interislander performance is
relatively lower on an average crossings basis compared with
all other ferry companies, but we always aim to continue to
improve our performance,” Mr Davis
said.

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